Spike hole insert



June 29, 1965 N. K. MOSES 3,191,864

' SPIKE HOLE INSERT Filed July 26, 1961 INV ENT OR 4452.50 K/WasasATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,191,864 SPIKE HOLE INSERT Nelson K.Moses, Ashtabula, Ohio, assignor to Railroad Rubber Products, Inc.,Ashtabula, Ohio, a corporation of Florida Filed July 26, 1961, Ser. No.127,046 Claims. (Cl. 238371) The present invention relates to railfastenings and, more particularly, to a method of making and railfastening for holding spikes in a rail supporting base.

The usual fastening for rails comprises spikes driven into wooden ties.Usually a tie plate or rubber rail seat is provided between the baseflange of the rail and the tie, the spikes being driven through holes inthe tie plate or rubber rail seats with some of the spikes having theirheads overlapping the base flange of the rail while other spikes havetheir heads bearing against the tie plates or rubber rail seats. Inrecent years, base structures other than wooden ties have come into use.More recently, precast concrete ties have been used in place of woodenties and, in some instances, concrete beds have been laid for supportingthe rails. Heretofore, the use of concrete, either in the tie form orbed form, nut and bolt fastening means have been used, the bolts beingeither imbedded in the concrete at the time of casting or suitable holesare provided through the concrete structure so that the bolts may beinserted therein.

One of the major railroad expenses today is the maintenance expense forreplacement of spike killed wooden ties. The exposure of a wooden tie toweather and the effects of oil and corrosive brine which drips from therailroad cars attacks the area of the wooden tie adjacent the spikeholes. The constant jarring and vibration of rolling stock on the tracktends to loosen the spikes and permit the water, oil, brine or the liketo enter the spike holes resulting in the rotting and decaying of thewood in this area. Such rotting and decaying of the wood in the areaaround the spike decreases the holding power and, consequently, the tiemust be replaced although the only deterioration is in the area of thespike holes.

Heretofore, efforts have been made to reuse the spike holes in a woodentie after they have been worn. Oversized spikes have been used but thelength of their holding power is reduced because the decayed area inwhich they are driven rapidly spreads once it is started. New tie plateshave been installed with holes positioned differently so that the spikesare received in solid timber but such efforts were not entirelysatisfactory as the area in which they are driven is close to the areaof the previously used spike holes and, consequently, there is atendency for the wood ties to split. Efforts have even been made to usea wooden filler peg in a spike hole, the spike then being driven intothe peg with the peg splitting and wedging against the decayed area ofthe previously used spike hole. The use of such wooden pegs isunsatisfactory in that the holding power is not as great as driving aspike in the solid wood and oftentimes the splitting of the wooden pegcaused the spike to be driven out of alignment with its requiredposition, resulting in a portion of the spike bearing against thedecayed portion of the hole. When such condition occurs, there is anuneven holding power on the spike.

More recently, efforts have been made to reuse spike holes by insertionof a thermosetting and thermoplasticglue in capsule form into the holeand then rupturing the capsule by the spike to cause the glue orpreservative to be pressurized and impregnate the portions of the woodsurrounding the hole. Such a fastening required time for the glue orpreservative material to set and is unsatisfactory for general use inthat it is common procedure to reset rails from time to time due tocreep and the like to the tie in the area of the hole.

3,191,864 Patented June 29, 1965 and, consequently, the spikes must becapable of being withdrawn without damage to the wood around the spikehole. The thermosetting resins which impregnate into the wood and whichhold the spike cause considerable difficulty in removing the spike aswell as causing damage Modifications of the use of thermoplastic andcold setting resins were tried wherein wood pegs having suitable groovestherein were inserted into the spike hole and subsequently a woodhardening glue in fluid form was provided in the groove so that thedriving of the spike into the hole pressurized the glue into the peg andinto portions of the immediately adjacent hole. Here, again, there wereinstallation difiiculties encountered and also the disadvantage ofdamaging the timber surrounding the hole as in instances where the spikehad to be removed so the track could be reset.

In regard to the use of concrete ties and con-crete beds as thesupporting base structure for the rails, the fastening of the railsthereto by bolts has been a costly expenditure and a time-consumingoperation. In instances where the vibrations have worked an imbeddedbolt loose in the concrete base structure, the repair of such structureinvolved considerable labor and expense. In cases where the boltextended through holes provided in the concrete structure, the forcescaused by the rolling stock passing over the rails were exertedprimarily against the bottom of the concrete by the bolt head and suchvibrations in a concentrated area eventually caused loosening andcracking of the concrete which necessitated constant tightening of thenuts.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking and an improved rail fastening wherein metal spikes, either theconventional cut spikes or screw spikes, may be used with either woodties, concrete ties or concrete bed structures.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved methodof and rail fastening for previously used spike holes in wooden ties.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a railfastening in which a spike may be held in a railway track supportingstructure with at least the same holding power as generally required bythe insertion of a spike into a solid wood tie, the spike being capableof being removed without damage to the railway track supportingstructure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of andrail fastening for wooden and concrete ties and concrete bed structureswherein the holding pow er is uniformly distributed onto the spike fromall sides.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of andrail fastening for attaching rails to a base supporting structure whichmay be accomplished in a minimum of time. By use of the presentinvention, it has been found that a spike killed wooden tie can bereconditioned and placed in use in approximately 4 /2 minutes, thereconditioned woodentie having substantially the same life as a newwooden tie with spikes driven into creosote treated solid wood.

Ancillary to the preceding object, it is a further object of the presentinvention to materially reduce the cost of maintenance of railway trackstructures.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a tubular insertplug made of a resilient plastic material which is unaffected byweather, water, oil, brine and the like and which when used in a spikehole has sufficient elastic memory to provide a uniform holding power ona spike driven into the same.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willappear more fully in the following specification, claims and drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the tubular insert plug of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the insert plug of FIGURE 1 installedinto a reconditioned hole in a wooden tie;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the method ofreconditioning a previously used spike hole, inserting the insert pluginto the spike hole and inserting the spike into the insert plug;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view through a typical instal lation of thepresent invention with a wooden tie;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 1 but illustrating atypical installation of the rail fastening of the present invention in aconcrete tie or concrete bed.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like or similar charactersrepresent like or similar parts and, in particular, the explodedfragmentary perspective view of FIGURE 3, a conventional wooden railroadtie is illustrated with the conventional tie plate or rubber rail seatremoved. The wooden tie 10 is shown with a used spike hole 12 having awall portion which has been deteriorated by decay or rot. It will beunderstood that such a wooden tie 10 is what has been heretofore knownas a spike killed tie in that the spike holes 12 have deteriorated to apoint that it has no further holding power to retain either theconventional cut spike 14 or a lag screw type of spike (not shown). Suchdeterioration of spike holes in a wooden tie normally occurs in six toten years but may occur earlier if the spikes have to be removed forresetting or replacing of rails. The wood of the tie 10 is normallysolid except in the immediate area of the used spike holes 12 and, ashas been heretofore the practice, such ties were generally discarded andreplaced with new wooden ties.

The present invention contemplates reconditioning such spike killed tieswhile still in place in the roadbed so that their service life can be atleast doubled. To accomplish the present invention, the used spike hole12 is reamed out by use of a conventional long shank wood bit (notshown). All of the decayed wood is reamed from the spike hole 12 so thatthe hole will be surrounded by good solid wood, as shown at 12' inFIGURE 3. The reamed out hole 12 is necessarily larger than the originalhole 12 and extends into the wooden tie to a depth of approximately 4inches. If desired, it may then be treated by spraying creosote into thesame so as to assist in rendering the reamed out solid walls of the newhole 12' resistant to decay.

After reaming out the previously used spike hole 12 to form a new closedbottom hole 12', a resilient plastic tubular insert plug havingsubstantially the same external dimensions as the hole 12' is introducedinto the hole 12' by pushing the same in or lightly tapping it with ahammer. The tubular insert plug 20 is provided with an undersized spike.hole 22 therethrough having substantially the same cross-sectionalconfiguration as the cross-sectional configuration of the spike 14. Asshown in the drawing, the conventional spike is quadrangular or squareand, consequently, the hole 22 is quadrangular or square but is ofslightly less cross-sectional dimensions than the cross-sectionaldimensions of the spike 14.

Once the resilient plastic tubular :plug 20 has been inserted into thehole 12 with its spike hole 22 having one wall 24, FIGURE 2, alignedparallel with the edge of the base flange 26 of the rail 28, asindicated by the broken line 30 in FIGURE 2, the tie plate or rail seat,as the case may be, is inserted between the base flange 26 and the topsurface of the tie 10 with its hole aligned with the spike hole 22. Asillustrated in FIGURE 4, a rubber rail seat 32 is shown between the tie10 and the base flange 26 of rail 28 but, of course, it will beunderstood that the conventional steel tie plate may be used. With therail seat 32 in position, the rail fastening is then completed bydriving the spike 14 into the spike hole 22 of the tubular insert plug20, as shown in FIGURE 4. The spike 14 causes the tubular plug 20 touniformly expand transversely into tight sealing engagement with thesolid wall of the hole 12', thus assuring a pressure seal of the wall ofthe hole 12'. Since the spike hole 22 in the insert plug 20 is smallerin cross-section than the cross section of the pipe and, further, sincethe insert plug 20 has an elastic memory, the plug 20, coupled with thewalls of the hole 12', exerts a uniform holding power on the spike whichis at least equal to the original spike holding power of a wood tie whenthe spike is directly driven into the wooden tie.

While the method of the present invention has been described inassociation with the reconditioning of a spike killed tie, it is, ofcourse, within the scope and spirit of the invention to fasten rails tonew wooden ties by drilling suitable dimension insert plug holes in thewooden ties and then subsequently following the steps of theabove-described method.

The insert plug 20 illustrated in FIGURE 1 is inexpensively made byextruding a resilient plastic material having an elastic memory intolong lengths of tubing, the extruded lengths of tubing having an outsidediameter substantially equal to the reamed out holes and having a boretherethrough of proper cross-sectional dimensions. After the extrusionprocess, the long length of tubing is then cut into insert plug lengthsof approximately four inches so that the resulting tubular insert plugis cylindrically shaped. A typical dimensioned plug for general use inconventional track structures has a lentgh of approximately four inches,an outside diameter of approximately 1% inches and a square holetherethrough about of an inch less than a inch square spike.

The insert plug 20, as mentioned above, must be made of a materialhaving at least some elastic memory and the additional characteristicsof toughness and impervious ness to weather, water, oil, brine or thelike. A preferable material for use in making the insert plug 20 is aplasticized polyvinyl chloride resin which is inexpensive and easilyextruded but still has the necessary characteristics of toughness andimperviousness to weather, water, brine or the like. Plasticizedpolyvinyl chloride resin inserts plugs are also capable of withstandingthe heat and cold encountered by track structures without losing any ofits properties.

While plasticized polyvinyl chloride resins are the pref erable materialfor use in extruding the insert plugs 20, it has also been found thatsuch plugs may be made from a high density linear polyethylene or frompolyoxymethylene.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, a modified form of rail fastening isdisclosed. In this form of the invention, a concrete bed or concrete tie40 is provided with a closed bottom hole 42 having a diametersubstantially equal to the diameter of the plug 20. The plug 20 isinserted into the hole 42 and, since its diameter is substantially equalto the diameter of the hole 42, it may be pushed in or tapped in by useof a hammer or the like. When the plug 20 is inserted into the preformedhole 42, the rail seat 32 and the rail 28 positioned thereon can befastened to the concrete bed or tie 40 by use of the conventional spike14. The spike 14 when driven into the hole 22 of the plug 20, expandsthe plug uniformly into tight engagement with the concrete wall of thepreformed hole 42, the elastic memory of the plug being such that thewall of its spike hole 22 tightly grips the spike and maintains asuflicient uniform holding power on the spikes to anchor the rails onthe ties.

The use of the resilient plastic insert plug 20 in the rail fasteningfor either wood ties, concrete ties or concrete bed structures has afurther unexpected result in that the spikes 14 may be removed bysuitable pulling tools when it is desired or necessary to reset orreplace the rails. In the case of the wood ties, removal of the spike 14in no way damages the reamed out hole 12' and, in the case of g memory,they can be easily replaced with new plugs because of the relativeinexpensiveness of the same. Further, since the insert plugs are made ofa resilient material and when expanded in either the hole 12' of a woodtie or the hole 42 of a concrete tie 40, they conform to the surface ofthe hole to protect the wall of the hole as well as conform to thesurface of the spike so as to protect the same. It will be understoodthat the spikes do not have machined surfaces and, since the plug insertis resilient, the Wall of the spike hole 22 in the plug 20 very closelyconforms to the roughened surface of the spike and thus prevents wateror brine from corroding and rusting the spike. Only the head of thespike is exposed to corrosive elements and thus the length of use of thespike is increased.

As will now be apparent, the present invention provides a simple,economical and efiicient method for providing rail fastenings for trackstructures. The specific insert plug described hereinbefore fullyaccomplishes the objects and advantages of the present invention, but itwill now be apparent that some modifications and changes may be made tothe plug, rail fastening, and method without departing from the spiritand principles of the invention involved.

The terminology used in this specification is for the purpose ofdescription and not limitation, the scope of the invention being definedin the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fastening for a rail: a rail a base structure for supporting therail, said base structure having at least one closed bottom holeextending downwardly from its rail supporting surface, a spike, anelongated cylindrical insert plug made of a resilient plastic materialhaving an elastic memory, said insert plug being substantiallyimpervious to the deteriorating effects of weather, water, oil and brineand said insert plug having outside dimensions substantially equal tothe dimensions of said closed bottom hole and further having anundersized spike hole extending therethrough, said insert plug having athread free, rib free and substantially smooth exterior surface, saidspike hole having a longitudinal axis coincident with the longitudinalaxis of said plug and having a cross-sectional configurationsubstantially the same as but smaller in size than the cross-sectionalconfiguration of said spike, said insert plug being located within theclosed bottom hole in said base structure so that its exterior surfaceis contiguous with the wall of said closed bottom hole, said spike beinglocated within the spike receiving hole of said insert plug to therebyuniformly expand the plug laterally into tight pressure sealingengagement with the wall of the closed bottom hole in said basestructure while the elastic memory of said insert plug exerts a uniformholding power on said spike to thereby anchor the rail to said basestructure, a tapered bottom portion of said spike extending past saidinsert plug spike hole into said base structure therebelow, said insertplug substantially conforming t the wall of said closed bottom hole toprotect the surface thereof from the deteriorating ,effects of weather,water, oil and brine, and the spike hole of said insert plug veryclosely conforming to the exterior surface of said spike to preventwater and brine from corroding and rusting the spike, and therebypreventing water and brine from entering said closed bottom hole.

2. The rail fastening of claim 1 wherein said base structure forsupporting the rails is a wood tie and wherein said closed bottom holeis a rebored previously used spike hole.

3. The rail fastening of claim 1 wherein said insert plug is made of aplasticized polyvinyl chloride resin.

4. The rail fastening of claim 1 wherein said insert plug is made of ahigh density linear polyethylene.

5. A rail fastening of claim 1 wherein said insert plug is made ofpolyoxymethylene.

6. The method of reconditioning a previously used spike hole and reusinga wood railway tie for supporting a rail by utilizing a resilientplastic plug having an elastic memory, a thread free, rib free andsubstantially smooth exterior surface and an undersized spike receivinghole extending therethrough with substantially the same crosssectionalconfiguration as but being smaller in size than the cross-sectionalconfiguration of a railway spike comprising the steps of: removing arailway spike from the previously used spike hole, removing the rail andconventional rail seat means from the previously used spike hole,reaming out the previously used spike hole in the tie until all decayedwood around the spike hole has been removed and the cross-sectionaldimensions of the reamed out hole are substantially equal to thecross-sectional dimensions of the plastic plug, introducing the plasticplug into the reamed out hole in the tie and aligning one wall of saidspike receiving hole substantially parallel to said rail, replacing therail seat means and the rail, and then driving the railway spike intothe undersized spike receiving hole in the plug and uniformly expandingthe plug laterally into tight engagement with the wall of the reamed outhole in the tie, whereby the spike is retained in the tie with a uniformholding power applied by the plug, said holding power being at leastsubstantially the same as the original holding power of the tie tothereby anchor the rail to the tie, the spike being driven into' thespike receiving hole so that a tapered bottom portion of the spikeextends past the spike receiving hole and into the tie therebelow, theplastic plug substantially conforming to the wall of said reamed outhole to protect the surfaces thereof from the deteriorating effects ofweather, water, oil and brine and the spike receiving hole of theplastic plug very closely conforming to the exterior surface of thespike to prevent water and brine from corroding and rusting the spike,and thereby preventing water and brine from entering said reamed outhole.

7. The method of reconditioning a previously used spike hole and reusinga wood railway tie for supporting a rail by utilizing a resilientplastic plug made of a plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin having anelastic memory, and a thread free, rib free and substantially smoothexterior surface, said plug having an undersized spike receiving holeextending therethrough with substantially the same non-circularcross-sectional configuration as but being smaller in size than thecross-sectional configuration of a railway spike comprising the stepsof: removing a railway spike from the previously used spike hole,removing the rail and tie plate from the previously used spike hole,reaming out the previously used spike hole in the tie until all decayedwood around the spike hole has been removed and the cross-sectionaldimensions of the reamed out hole are substantially equal to thecrosssectional dimensions of the plastic plug, aligning the noncircularhole in the plastic plug in a spike receiving position relative to thetie plate and the base of the rail, then inserting the plug into thereamed out hole while maintaining alignment of its spike receiving hole,and then replacing the tie plate and the rail, and then driving a spikeinto the undersized spike receiving hole in the plug and uniformlyexpanding the plug laterally into tight engagement with the wall of thereamed out hole in the tie, whereby the spike is retained in the tiewith a uniform holding power applied by the plug, said holding powerbeing at least substantially the same as the original holding power ofthe tie to thereby anchor the rail to the tie, the spike being driveninto the spike receiving hole so that a tapered bottom portion of thespike extends past the spike receiving hole and into the tie therebelow,the plastic plug substantially conforming to the wall of said reamed outhole to protect the surfaces thereof from the deteriorating effects ofweather, water, oil and brine and the spike receiving hole of theplastic plug very closely conforming to the exterior surface of thespike to prevent water-and brine from corroding and rusting the spike,and thereby preventing water and brine from entering said reamed outhole.

8. The method of fastening a rail to a rail base structure by utilizinga spike and a resilient plastic plug having an elastic memory, a threadfree, rib free and substantially smooth exterior surface and anundersized spike receiving hole extending therethrough withsubstantially the same cross-sectional configuration as but beingsmaller in size than the cross-sectional configuration of the spikecomprising the steps of: forming a bottom closed hole in the rail basestructure having a cross-sectional area substantially equal to thecross-sectional area of the resilient plastic plug and a depthapproximately equal to the length of the resilient plastic plug,introducing the resilient plastic plug into the formed hole and aligningone wall of said spike receiving hole substantially parallel to the baseflange of the rail, placing a rail seat means and the rail in a spikereceiving position, and then driving the spike into the undersized spikereceiving hole in the resilient plastic plug and uniformly expanding theplug laterally into tight engagement with the wall of the formed hole inthe base structure, whereby the spike is retained with a uniform holdingpower applied by the plug, said holding power being sufficient to anchorthe rail to the rail base structure, the spike being driven into thespike receiving hole so that a tapered bottom portion of the spikeextends past the spike receiving hole and through the bottom of theclosed bottom hole into said base structure below said closed bottomhole, the plastic plug substantially conforming to the wall of saidclosed bottom hole to protect the surfaces thereof from thedeteriorating effects of weather, water, oil and brine and the spikereceiving hole of the plastic plug very closely conforming to theexterior surface of the spike to prevent water and brine from corrodingand rusting the spike, and thereby preventing water and brine fromentering said closed bottom hole.

9. The rail fastening device of claim 1 wherein said base structure isconcrete and wherein said closed bottom hole is preformed in said basestructure.

10. An article of manufacture for use in fastening a spike in a closedbottom hole provided in a railway track base structure for supporting arail comprising: an extruded elongated cylindrical insert plug made froma. plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin and having an elastic memory,said insert plug having a thread free, rib free and substantially smoothexterior surface and said plug having a longitudinally extending spikereceiving hole therethrough which is substantially square incross-section but having dimensions about inch less than the inch squaredimensions of a railway spike having a 1ongitudinal axis coincident withthe longitudinal axis of said plug, said plug having an externaldiameter substan tially equal to the diameter of the closed bottom holein which it is insertable so that its exterior surface will becontiguous with the wall of the closed bottom hole, said spike receivinghole dimensions being such that a railway spike is drivable into thespike receiving hole of said plug to uniformly expand the plug laterallyinto tight pressure sealing engagement with the wall of the closedbottom hole in said base structure while the elastic memory of said plugexerts a uniform holding power on said spike to thereby anchor the railto said base structure, a tapered bottom portion of said spike beingextendable past said plug spike receiving hole into said base structuretherebelow, said plug substantially conforming to the wall of saidbottom hole to protect the surfaces thereof from the deterioratingeffects of weather, water, oil and brine and the spike receiving hole ofsaid plug very closely conforming to the exterior surface of said spiketo prevent water and brine from corroding and rusting the spike, andthereby preventing water and brine from entering the closed bottom hole.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,241,857 10/ 17Kendrick 238-371 1,294,778 2/19 Cutting 238-371 1,855,329 4/32 Wagner852.4 2,088,358 7/37 Adams 852.4 2,088,955 8/ 37 Hamill 85-24 2,690,87810/54 Snyder 238-370 2,785,453 3/57 Wentz 852.4 X 3,013,643 12/61 Perry852.4 3,018,055 1/ 62 Meier 238-371 3,067,546 12/ 62 Cuperus et al. -471X FOREIGN PATENTS 207,320 11/56 Australia.

741,692 12/55 Great Britain.

LEO QUACKENBUSH, Primary Examiner.

10. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR USE IN FASTENING A SPIKE IN A CLOSEDBOTTOM HOLE PROVIDED IN A RAILWAY TRACK BASE STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING ARAIL COMPRISING: AN EXTRUDED ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL INSERT PLUG MADE FROMA PLASTICIZED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE RESIN AND HAVING AN ELASTIC MEMORY,SAID INSERT PLUG HAVING A THREAD FREE, RIB FREE AND SUBSTANTIALLY SMOOTHEXTERIOR SURFACE AND SAID PLUG HAVING A LONGITUDINALY EXTENDING SPIKERECEIVING HOLE THERETHROUGH WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE INCROSS-SECTION BUT HAVING DIMENSIONS ABOUT 1/2 INCH LESS THAN THE 5/8INCH SQUARE DIMENSIONS OF A RAILWAY SPIKE HAVING A LONGITUDINAL AXISCOINCIDENT WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID PLUG, SAID PLUG HAVING ANEXTERNAL DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DIAMETER OF THE CLOSEDBOTTOM HOLE IN WHICH IT IS INSERTABLE SO THAT ITS EXTERIOR SURFACE WILLBE CONTIGUOUS WITH THE WALL OF THE CLOSED BOTTOM HOLE, AND SPIKERECEIVING HOLE DIMENSIONS BEING SUCH THAT A RAILWAY SPIKE IS DRIVABLEINTO THE SPIKE RECEIVING HOLE OF SAID PLUG TO UNIFORMLY EXPAND THE PLUGLATERALLY INTO TIGHT PRESSURE SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WALL OF THECLOSED BOTTOM HOLE IN SAID BASE STRUCTURE WHILE THE ELASTIC MEMORY OFSAID PLUG EXERTS A UNIFORM HOLDING POWER ON SAID SPIKE TO THEREBY ANCHORTHE RAIL TO SAID BASE STRUCTURE, A TAPERED BOTTOM PORTION OF SAID SPIKEBEING EXTENDABLE PAST SAID PLUG SPIKE RECEIVING HOLE INTO SAID BASESTRUCTURE THEREBELOW, SAID PLUG SUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMING TO THE WALL OFSAID BOTTOM HOLE TO PROTECT THE SURFACES THEREOF FROM THE DETERIORATINGEFFECTS OF WEATHER, WATER, OIL AND BRINE AND THE SPIKE RECEIVING HOLE OFSAID PLUG VERY CLOSELY CONFORMING TO THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID SPIKETO PREVENT WATER AND BRINE FROM CORRODING AND RUSTING THE SPIKE, ANDTHEREBY PREVENTING WATER AND BRINE FROM ENTERING THE CLOSED BOTTOM HOLE.